Once they enter, I relay the entire incident from my memory, up until the moment I came to in the ambulance. I save the memory of seeing Emanuel’s face as soon as the ambulance doors opened, and the feel of his strong hand wrapped around mine as I was wheeled into the ER. I recall the worry in his voice as he questioned the doctors on whether or not I was okay.
When the officers leave, I squeeze his hand, which is already covering mine.
He turns to look at me with a wrinkle in his forehead. “Are you okay? Feeling pain? Need me to—”
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” I say as a tear streams down my cheek.
Emanuel moves closer, wiping the tear away with his thumb. “That’s already a foregone conclusion, babe.” He presses a kiss to my lips. “We’re in this for the long haul. I was just waiting on you to figure it out.”
“Sorry, I’m a slow learner sometimes.”
He captures my lips again. “As long as you always comes back to me, you can take as long as you need to.”
Epilogue
Emanuel
Six weeks later
“This shit is taking too long,” I growl, feeling frustrated and pissed off.
Don, Eric, Carter, Sean, and I are standing at the back of the fire station in a huddle discussing what evidence Don has uncovered at the bar fire. It’s been six weeks and the police have come up with jack shit.
“My woman could’ve died in that fucking fire.”
“My fucking wife, too,” Eric insists. “We need to figure out whoever the fuck is behind this and fast,” he growls. Obviously, Eric is as pissed off as the rest of us but even more so due to the fact that Angela is about five months pregnant. He could’ve lost his wife and unborn child in that fire. It’s bad enough his wife lost her business, at least for the time being.
“I know. And I’m getting nowhere with the police or the brass in the department. They keep saying it was likely just a random attack.”
“That’s fucking bullshit!”
“What the fuck?!”
“They’re full of shit!”
Eric, Sean, Carter, and I all yell at the same time.
“Keep it down,” Don insists, looking around.
We’re off shift but stayed a few minutes late to have this meeting.
“I know it’s bullshit, which is why I’m still looking into it. And why I’ve brought someone else, from outside of the department to help us out.”
“Who?” I question, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Someone who has just as much incentive as you to get this son of a bitch.”
We all turn at the female voice coming from behind us.
Behind me, I hear Don sigh. “You were supposed to wait out front.”
The woman frowns. “Did you really think I was going to sit silently as the men talked?”
“Of fucking course not,” he grumbles.
I squint, studying the woman. She looks familiar, though I’m certain she and I haven’t met.
“Jocelyn?” Carter says as she moves out of the shadows and into our little circle.
